3 ms·

I.e. merchants not only accepting Bitcoins, but also keeping them and spending them on suppliers and paying their employees (partially) in Bitcoin. I think thi

I.e. merchants not only accepting Bitcoins, but also keeping them and spending them on suppliers and paying their employees (partially) in Bitcoin. I think this is illegal now in New York. The new regulation requires that companies keep profits in USD and not bitcoin. For bitcoin to succeed, it needs to become safe. It's still incredibly easy to lose your money if it's stored in bitcoin.

embolalia 12y ago
Nothing is illegal yet. The regulations have been proposed, but there's still a 45-day comment period that hasn't started yet. I don't know if there are more comment/review periods after that. Moreover, as I understood it, the proposed regulations apply pretty much entirely to those holding others' BTC, not to retailers. I didn't see anything in my (admittedly very cursory) reading to suggest a company that only takes BTC as payment for services would be disallowed from investing in, or making payments in, BTC.
fragsworth 12y ago
> For bitcoin to succeed, it needs to become safe. It's still incredibly easy to lose your money if it's stored in bitcoin. It's not that "bitcoin has to become safe" - it's that the users have to become security-minded. If it's even possible for that to happen in a mainstream way, it's going to be a very slow process. Like decades or generations.
- bobbygoodlatte 12y ago
  Or they can just use Coinbase Vault :) https://coinbase.com/vault https://coinbase.com/vault
  - sillysaurus3 12y ago
    If Coinbase goes out of business, you'll lose all your money. Coinbase is a startup, and >90% of startups fail. "Vault" is a marketing term designed to make people feel comfortable for no reason. Given this major disadvantage, what benefit does Coinbase Vault offer to outweigh it?
    - aianus 12y ago
      Coinbase isn't running a fractional reserve. Barring fraud, everyone would get their BTC back even if it fails.
      - deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]
      - earonesty 12y ago
        Prove it.
sunshinerag 12y ago
where does it say they need to keep the profits in USD? It would be interesting to know how they justify that - http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press2014/pr1407171-vc.pdf http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press2014/pr1407171-vc.pdf.

embolalia 12y ago

Nothing is illegal yet. The regulations have been proposed, but there's still a 45-day comment period that hasn't started yet. I don't know if there are more comment/review periods after that. Moreover, as I understood it, the proposed regulations apply pretty much entirely to those holding others' BTC, not to retailers. I didn't see anything in my (admittedly very cursory) reading to suggest a company that only takes BTC as payment for services would be disallowed from investing in, or making payments in, BTC.

fragsworth 12y ago

> For bitcoin to succeed, it needs to become safe. It's still incredibly easy to lose your money if it's stored in bitcoin. It's not that "bitcoin has to become safe" - it's that the users have to become security-minded. If it's even possible for that to happen in a mainstream way, it's going to be a very slow process. Like decades or generations.

bobbygoodlatte 12y ago
Or they can just use Coinbase Vault :) https://coinbase.com/vault https://coinbase.com/vault
- sillysaurus3 12y ago
  If Coinbase goes out of business, you'll lose all your money. Coinbase is a startup, and >90% of startups fail. "Vault" is a marketing term designed to make people feel comfortable for no reason. Given this major disadvantage, what benefit does Coinbase Vault offer to outweigh it?
  - aianus 12y ago
    Coinbase isn't running a fractional reserve. Barring fraud, everyone would get their BTC back even if it fails.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
    - earonesty 12y ago
      Prove it.

sunshinerag 12y ago

where does it say they need to keep the profits in USD? It would be interesting to know how they justify that - http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press2014/pr1407171-vc.pdf http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press2014/pr1407171-vc.pdf.